Bills, Packers On Radar For John Harbaugh?

When six non-Ravens HC openings existed, a report indicated seven teams reached out to John Harbaugh within minutes of his firing. Seven non-Baltimore openings are now present, with the Dolphins firing Mike McDaniel today. Another report, however, indicated as many as nine teams had contacted Harbaugh before the Miami development.

A Wednesday report indicated a push from a team playing in the wild-card round is a rumor floating out there, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio pinpoints two potentially interested clubs. The Bills and Packers are viewed by some around the league as teams to monitor with regards to lurking Harbaugh suitors.

Some other teams playing in the first round should not be completely disqualified from Harbaugh pursuits in the event of one-and-done playoff journeys, but Florio mentions Buffalo and Green Bay as the two being discussed the most. The Bills have employed Sean McDermott since 2017, and he has guided them to eight playoff berths. Matt LaFleur was a 2019 hire; he has missed the playoffs only one time since coming over from Tennessee.

LaFleur, though, may not be completely safe. The seventh-year Packers HC may need to win his first-round game to feel “completely” safe, per Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, citing a feeling around the NFL on this situation. LaFleur is under contract through 2026, via the extension he signed in July 2022. New Packers president Ed Policy came out against lame-duck HCs, meaning a decision will need to be made on an extension before the 2026 season — and likely much earlier. Neither LaFleur nor GM Brian Gutekunst were extended before this season.

Green Bay successfully transitioned from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love under LaFleur. While Love has not flashed MVP-level form like Rodgers did by his third season at the controls, the successor has accounted himself well. Love finished third in QBR this season, finishing with 23 touchdown passes and six interceptions while averaging 7.7 yards per attempt. This came as the Packers played much of the season without Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft. The fast-emerging tight end’s unavailability has hurt the team’s passing attack, and the Packers’ defense has been without Micah Parsons since Week 15. LaFleur’s bunch sunk to 9-7-1, though the team did not play starters in Week 18.

The Pack booked three straight playoff byes from 2019-21 under LaFleur, venturing to two NFC championship games in that span. LaFleur’s decision to kick a field goal down eight in the final minutes of an NFC title game loss to the Buccaneers backfired, and his team went one-and-done as the No. 1 seed a year later. Although the Packers upset the No. 2-seeded Cowboys in Love’s first playoff game and then pushed the No. 1-seeded 49ers a week later, they lost to the Eagles in Round 1 last year. Though, the Eagles stampeding through the playoffs to a Super Bowl title did not make that loss look too bad.

The Bills are in a somewhat similar situation. LaFleur actually has as many conference championship game appearances as McDermott, despite the latter leading Josh Allen-led rosters for eight of his nine seasons. The Bills lost divisional-round games in three straight years before edging the Ravens to reach the AFC championship game last season.

Buffalo’s defense has regularly underwhelmed in marquee games against Kansas City, despite the AFC East powerhouse dominating that series in the regular season, and Allen (25:4 playoff TD:INT ratio) faces the prospect of turning 30 next year without a Super Bowl berth on his resume.

Harbaugh, 63, would seemingly be a fit for both teams due to neither being in rebuilding mode. The same cannot be said for a handful of the current lot of HC-needy teams. He will not take any interviews until next week, with Florio pointing to that timetable as matching up with the potential openings that could emerge after this weekend’s games. Harbaugh’s looming presence adds intrigue to the Packers and Bills’ opening-round contests.

As for the latest team to create a coaching vacancy, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero and the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson note the Dolphins have not reached out to Harbaugh yet. It would stand to reason that it is only a matter of time before that happens, however. But the Bills and/or the Packers entering this race could throw a wrench into other, less successful teams’ HC plans.

2026 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

The Browns, Cardinals, Falcons and Raiders followed the Giants and Titans in firing head coaches, making those calls between the Week 18 conclusion and Black Monday. The Ravens then moved on from John Harbaugh after 18 seasons; two days later, the Dolphins canned Mike McDaniel. Now, following a wild-card loss, the Steelers and Mike Tomlin are separating. Here are the candidates connected to all nine of the HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-14-26 (5:04pm CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/7/26

Today’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

Pittsburgh Steelers

Richardson, Christian, Lewis, Wallace, Maye, and Flowers all cleared waivers after being cut from their respective teams earlier this week. They’ll all return to those teams via new practice squad deals.

Bills Designate Damar Hamlin For Return; Maxwell Hairston Out For Wild-Card Game

Damar Hamlin has missed much of this season, landing on IR in early October. The Bills, though, could have the veteran safety back for their wild-card matchup against the Jaguars.

Buffalo designated Hamlin for return Wednesday, giving him a chance for activation ahead of the Jacksonville trip. Hamlin has been out since Week 5 with a pectoral injury. The Bills also placed Jordan Phillips on IR, per a team announcement. That move will knock the veteran defensive tackle out for the season. Buffalo also signed cornerback Dane Jackson from the practice squad and signed cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. and quarterback Shane Buechele to the P-squad.

Asked to start in place of Micah Hyde for most of the 2022 season, Hamlin suffered a life-threatening injury in a Week 17 game against the Bengals that ended up being cancelled. Hamlin made an inspirational recovery for 2023, though he played sparingly — in a development that strangely cost him the Comeback Player of the Year award. Last year, however, the Bills turned to Hamlin as a full-time starter. This included starts in all three Buffalo playoff games. The Bills then re-signed him on a one-year, $2MM deal.

That money checks in south of the starter tier, and the Bills turned to Cole Bishop to replace him opening this season. Bishop has teamed with the re-signed Jordan Poyer at safety for most of the season. Poyer has missed the past two weeks with a hamstring injury but was a limited participant in Buffalo’s Wednesday practice. The team also has Darnell Savage and Sam Franklin on its roster as insurance. Hamlin would add to that insurance contingent if activated. The Bills are in fine shape for injury activations, holding six entering the wild-card round.

Phillips is out with a foot injury sustained in Week 18. The recurring Bills supporting-caster played in 11 games this season, serving mostly as D-tackle depth during his third Buffalo stint. The Jackson move comes as cornerback Maxwell Hairston has been ruled out for Sunday’s game, per BuffaloBills.com’s Alec White.

Hairston’s injury is a troubling development for the Bills, who have seen cornerback injuries go a long way toward swinging their recent postseason matchups with the Chiefs. Christian Benford missed the 2023 divisional-round game against Kansas City and suffered a concussion on the Ravens’ last-ditch onside-kick attempt to close the 2024 divisional-round matchup with the Ravens. Benford later went out early in last year’s AFC championship game.

Hairston has now suffered an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ blowout win over the Jets. While Benford is healthy, the Bills will be without their first-round pick after playing much of the season without him.

An LCL sprain kept Hairston out for two months; he has since played 56% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps. The Bills will need to lean on Tre’Davious White opposite Benford. Jackson brings a proven backup-level player, albeit one who has been on the practice squad this season and only saw action in three regular-season games. Hairston is not on IR, keeping him in play for a possible divisional-round game. But it is obviously not a good sign when a player is ruled out the Wednesday before a game.

Bills Add K Matthew Wright To P-Squad

With kicker Matt Prater battling a quadriceps injury, his status is uncertain for the Bills’ wild-card round meeting with the Jaguars on Sunday. In the event Prater is unable to play, the Bills added insurance on Tuesday in signing Matthew Wright to their practice squad. To clear a spot for Wright, the Bills released offensive lineman Richard Gouraige.

Prater initially injured his quad in Week 15, leading to a two-game absence. Looking for a temporary fill-in, the Bills worked out Wright and Michael Badgley on Dec. 16.

The Bills passed on Wright for Badgley, whose difficulties with extra points transferred from Indianapolis to Buffalo. Badgley made 18 of 21 extra points this season with the Colts, who cut him Dec. 2. The Bills parted with Badgley after he converted just two of his four PATs with them.

Prater came back for Week 18, but he aggravated his quad in a win over the Jets. If Wright has to take his place in Jacksonville, the nomadic 29-year-old will kick for a fourth team this season. He played in two games with the Texans and one apiece with the Titans and Commanders in 2025. Wright combined to go 5 for 5 on field goals and 4 for 4 on PATs.

Since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent from UCF in 2019, Wright has garnered regular-season experience with eight teams. Over a 33-game span, Wright has hit 60 of 68 field goals (88.2%) and 45 of 47 extra points (95.7%).

Despite strong conversion rates, Wright typically hasn’t lasted long anywhere. His most extensive action in a season came with the Jaguars in 2021. Wright played in 14 of their games that year and made 21 of 24 field goals, though he was a less successful 13 of 15 on PATs. A half-decade later, Wright may have a chance to face Jacksonville in a do-or-die game.

Along with Wright, the Bills added fellow kicker Maddux Trujillo on a reserve/futures contract on Tuesday. Trujillo signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent from Temple last spring, but they waived him with an injury settlement in early September. The 22-year-old is now joining his second NFL organization four months later.

Matt Prater Dealing With Quad Injury; Bills To Work Out Kickers

The Bills are gearing up for this weekend’s wild-card round, but it’s unclear who will kick for them in Jacksonville on Sunday. Matt Prater aggravated a quadriceps injury in the Bills’ Week 18 win over the Jets. Prater is considered day-to-day, head coach Sean McDermott said (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk).

With Prater’s status uncertain, the Bills will work out kickers this week, McDermott announced. This is the third time the Bills have had to go this route in the past few weeks.

After Prater injured his quad in a Week 15 win over the Patriots, the Bills auditioned Michael Badgley and Matthew Wright on Dec. 16. They signed Badgley, who had been out of a job for two weeks after the Colts cut him.

Although Badgley hit 10 of 11 field goals with the Colts, they moved on after he converted just 18 of 21 extra points. His final PAT miss with Indianapolis proved costly in a Week 13 loss to Houston.

Badgley went on to struggle filling in for Prater in two games with the Bills. He made his lone field goal, but he missed two of four extra points. A blocked PAT against the Eagles in Week 17 helped sink the Bills in a 13-12 loss.

It’s unclear whether the Bills will consider a reunion with Badgley, but it’s worth noting that they worked out other kickers while he was still a member of the organization. Younghoe Koo, Gavin Stewart and Maddux Trujillo tried out on Dec. 23 (via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic). The Bills didn’t see any as an upgrade over Badgley at the time. Those three remain on the market alongside the likes of Justin Tucker, Matt Gay and Cade York, among others.

Tucker is easily the most proven kicker available, but the longtime Raven’s performance fell off dramatically in 2024. The 36-year-old has since served a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. The league handed down the punishment after allegations of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions went public against Tucker last February. Tucker worked out for the Saints in late November and the Colts in early December, but neither team signed him.

If Prater’s unavailable on Sunday and the Bills don’t turn back to Badgley, they’ll use their third kicker of the season in the opening round of the playoffs. Tyler Bass handled the job from 2020-24, but he began 2025 on IR with a hip/groin injury and underwent season-ending surgery on Dec. 1. With Bass on the shelf, the Bills signed the 41-year-old Prater days before the start of the season.

When healthy, Prater has been a reliable option for Buffalo. The two-time Pro Bowler went 18 of 20 on field goals and 46 of 49 on extra points during the regular season, but it’s anyone’s guess whether he’ll participate in the playoffs.

Updated 2026 NFL Draft Order

With the AFC North now settled (in rather dramatic fashion), the 2025 regular season is in the books. Following their decisions to shelve Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby, the Raiders secured the No. 1 overall pick. After entering Week 17 in that slot, the Giants — as they did in 2024 — slipped out of the top two thanks to a late-season win.

Big Blue’s victories over the Raiders and Cowboys dropped them to No. 5, with today’s win allowing the Jets, Cardinals and Titans to leapfrog them. The Giants, who fell out of the No. 1 spot last year thanks to a Drew Lock-led win over the Colts in Week 17, will still hold a top-five pick — just not the one most expected two weeks ago. The Jets saw the Colts’ collapse, which dropped them from 8-2 to 8-9, give them two picks in the top 16.

The Cardinals started 2-0 but managed to close the season with 14 losses over their final 15 games. This will give Arizona a top-four pick for the third time in the Monti Ossenfort era. The GM traded out of that slot in 2023 before drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024; Ossenfort is expected to be retained for a fourth season, providing another opportunity. This will be the third straight year the Titans will hold a top-seven pick.

The Buccaneers beat the Panthers on Saturday, but thanks to a three-way NFC South tie, Tampa Bay’s draft slot will land out of the playoff positions for the first time since 2020. Because Atlanta defeated New Orleans today, Carolina’s first-round pick will slide into the bottom 14 despite its 8-9 finish — one that secured playoff entry for the first time since 2017.

Although the draft order is not fully set due to the upcoming playoffs, the first 18 picks are. Here is how the order looks after Week 18:

  1. Las Vegas Raiders (3-14)
  2. New York Jets (3-14)
  3. Arizona Cardinals (3-14)
  4. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  5. New York Giants (4-13)
  6. Cleveland Browns (5-12)
  7. Washington Commanders (5-12)
  8. New Orleans Saints (6-11)
  9. Kansas City Chiefs (6-11)
  10. Cincinnati Bengals (6-11)
  11. Miami Dolphins (7-10)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-9-1)
  13. Los Angeles Rams (via Falcons)
  14. Baltimore Ravens (8-9)
  15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
  16. New York Jets (via Colts)
  17. Detroit Lions (9-8)
  18. Minnesota Vikings (9-8)
  19. Carolina Panthers (8-9)
  20. Dallas Cowboys (from Packers)
  21. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  23. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6)
  24. Buffalo Bills (12-5)
  25. Chicago Bears (11-6)
  26. San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
  27. Houston Texans (12-5)
  28. Cleveland Browns (from Jaguars)
  29. Los Angeles Rams (12-5)
  30. New England Patriots (14-3)
  31. Denver Broncos (14-3)
  32. Seattle Seahawks (14-3)

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/3/26

After the final standard gameday practice squad elevations of the 2025 regular season, the three-game elevation limit resets for the postseason, so only players getting signed to the 53-man roster because of the limit will be noted today. Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

The Browns made it known yesterday that they were shutting down Schwesinger and tight ends David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. for the final week of the season, but the Defensive Rookie of the Year-favorite is the only one to land on IR.

In Dallas, Williams failed to practice this week as he dealt with shoulder and neck issues. With Davis also being placed on IR, the Cowboys will rely on rookie fifth-rounder Jaydon Blue and the recently activated Mafah, a seventh-round rookie, in Week 18. The team used their eighth and final IR activation to bring Mafah back for a potential NFL debut.

Because Green Bay didn’t elevate recently signed practice squad quarterback Desmond Ridder, it appears either Malik Willis will be healthy enough to back up Clayton Tune or Jordan Love will serve as the potential QB2 for the Packers in Week 18.

Judon is set to make his Bills debut in the team’s regular season finale after signing to their practice squad two weeks ago.

With Saints backup quarterback Spencer Rattler not practicing this week with a finger injury, Haener gets the call to back up rookie Tyler Shough.

Hall in Tennessee had already been called up as a standard gameday practice squad elevation three times this season. In order for him to appear in the Titans’ regular season finale, the move to the 53-man roster was necessary.

NFL Injury Updates: Seahawks, Packers, Olave, Hall

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold heads into Week 18 with a game that could cement his team as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the second season in a row. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he’s also looking to earn up to $1.5MM in incentives by throwing for at least 150 yards and three touchdowns and raising his passer rating (99.2) to 100. Unfortunately, he’ll be doing so without a few key pieces.

Starting left tackle Charles Cross has missed each of the team’s last two games, and according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, he’ll be out for Week 18, as well. Backup swing tackle Josh Jones has played well in Cross’ absence these past two weeks and will be relied upon again in a winner-take-all matchup with the 49ers.

Curtis Crabtree of FOX Sports adds on that, although rookie fifth-round receiver Tory Horton is eligible to be activated off injured reserve, he is not expected to play again this season. The shin injury that’s kept him out since early November has likely ended his rookie campaign. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters, “The best way I can describe it is just, what he has, it just takes a long time to heal…we’re not planning on having him.”

Here are a few other injury updates from around the NFL:

  • Packers head coach Matt LaFleur gave updates on the two defensive backs recently placed on injured reserve earlier this week. Both safety Zayne Anderson and cornerback Nate Hobbs suffered injuries in the team’s home loss to Baltimore. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur told the media that he didn’t anticipate either player being able to return in time for the playoffs, so both players were put on IR to make room on the 53-man roster for players who can contribute in the postseason.
  • Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was a surprise scratch for the team’s regular season finale. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, a blood clot was detected in Olave’s lung, though it was caught early, “before anything bad could happen,” and the 25-year-old will be fine. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that Olave has no prior history with blood clots and that the injury should sideline him for about four weeks before he’ll be ready for any offseason activities.
  • The Bills are locked into a wild card slot in the playoffs, though their exact seeding is still up in the air. They should have a fairly easy Week 18 matchup against a tanking Jets team, but they’ll be going into it without rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker, per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. A fourth-round pick out of Kentucky, Walker has stepped up as a starter for nearly all of his rookie year as Ed Oliver, T.J. Sanders, Jordan Phillips, Larry Ogunjobi, and DaQuan Jones have all missed time at different points of the year.
  • Speaking of the tanking Jets, already without quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, New York has also now ruled out running back Breece Hall, according to Schefter. This means Hall may have already played his final game in a Jets uniform, as the 24-year-old is set to hit free agency at the end of the season. According to Rich Cimini, also of ESPN, the Jets are expected to at least attempt to retain him, but Hall may be tempted to test the market. Cimini doesn’t rule out that franchise/transition tags may enter the picture. With all the absences on offense, the Jets starting group will be led by Brady Cook at quarterback, Khalil Herbert and Kene Nwangwu at running back, and John Metchie III, Adonai Mitchell, and Isaiah Williams at receiver. Per Cimini, starting cornerback Brandon Stephens will miss the Jets’ final game of the season, as well.
  • The Ravens have a win-or-go-home game tomorrow night against the division-rival Steelers, but they will be heading into the matchup without wide receiver Rashod Bateman after ruling him out for the weekend. Bateman missed practice all week with illness and will not travel to Pittsburgh.

Bills DT Ed Oliver Undergoes Knee Surgery

Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver has been working back from a biceps tear since late October. There’s a chance Oliver will return sometime during the playoffs, but he’ll also have to overcome a knee injury first. Oliver underwent a meniscus cleanup on Monday, head coach Sean McDermott announced (via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News and Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic).

This is the third significant injury of the season for Oliver, who incurred this unexpected setback during rehab. He only played in three regular-season games before going on IR.

After a stellar showing in the Bills’ Week 1 win over the Ravens, Oliver suffered an ankle injury in practice and missed four games in a row. He returned to play in two before tearing his biceps. The seventh-year man finished 2025 with 12 tackles, 11 pressures, seven TFL, five QB hits and three sacks.

While Oliver was only around for 108 defensive snaps during the regular season, Pro Football Focus awarded him an elite 90.4 grade against the run over that small sample. The Bills rank eighth in total defense and 12th in points allowed, but they’ve struggled to stop the run without Oliver.

The Bengals, Commanders and Giants are the only teams that have yielded more rushing yards than the Bills. Unlike those three, the 11-5 Bills earned a playoff berth. However, they’ll enter the postseason as a wild card for the first time since 2019. The 13-3 Patriots snapped the Bills’ five-year streak atop the AFC East.

Depending on the outcome of this week’s slate, Buffalo will finish anywhere from fifth to seventh in the AFC. The Bills will likely have to win three consecutive road games to advance to the Super Bowl. That’s a lot to ask with or without Oliver. If Oliver stays on the shelf during the playoffs, the Bills will have to continue leaning on fellow veteran starter DaQuan Jones and two rookies – fourth-rounder Deone Walker and second-rounder T.J. Sanders – as their top options at D-tackle. Larry Ogunjobi, Jordan Phillips and Phidarian Mathis are on hand as depth.

Jones and Phillips missed the Bills’ Week 17 loss to the Eagles with injuries, but their defense held up well in limiting Saquon Barkley to 68 yards on 19 carries. Meanwhile, quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t complete a second-half pass during a 13-for-27, 110-yard afternoon. Regardless of whether Oliver returns, similar defensive performances in the coming weeks would increase the Bills’ chances of making a lengthy playoff run.

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